Trouble With Your Agency? Make Them Re-Pitch Your Account.

Will Burns
, ContributorWill Burns is an advertising veteran and current CEO of Ideasicle.com.Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

Sometimes an old ball can do new tricks. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As I wrote a while back ("The Agency Review: Sometimes The Pitch Is Best Left Unpitched"), I believe there are too many agency pitches in the world. It's a crutch for some. It's political for others. And just plain unnecessary for others. Sure, many pitches are quite necessary, but please consider trying this one last idea before you look for a brand new ball.

It's an idea that will save you time, money, and possibly one of your most important relationships. And if it doesn't work, then at least you'll be able to say with confidence that you tried everything.

Here's the idea: ask your current agency to re-pitch your business.

By themselves. No competition. Give them a brief, dates for a strategic work session, dates for a creative work session, and dates for the final pitch. Make it as real as a competitive pitch.

But also tell them this is it. It's thumbs up or down. No in-between. A victory will mean the account is back on track. A loss will mean the business will go into review and that they (the incumbent) will not be invited.

Here's why I think this "Non-competitive Re-pitch" could work.

The agency may not know how you feel. Now they most certainly will.

After 2-3 years, agencies do get complacent. The work can get tired. The agency teams can get irritated with your teams (and vice versa). The conversations over the work can become political. Passive aggression ensues. Miscommunications abound. You think you're being clear about how unhappy you are, but the agency seems to only hear what it wants to hear. And eventually the brand suffers. It's no one's fault, really. It's just human nature at play in a business unappreciated for just how intimate it is (the intimacy of ideas). The agency wants you to be happy. They really do. So, if the agency is allowed to think everything is ok, then expecting any form of proactive positive disruption coming from them is unrealistic. A re-pitch will make yourself very clear.

Agencies will direct all of their resources towards saving a good client.

I've seen it. Many times. But unfortunately I've only seen it when it's too late and the business is already in review. Incumbents have only 5% chance of winning, but these poor agencies will pitch it anyway out of pride, over-confidence, or sometimes desperation. They will throw everything they have at saving the business. But only when their backs are pushed up against the wall (read, revenue is at stake). This "re-pitch" ultimatum is still an ultimatum, but it softens the blow because you're not inviting competition. Most agencies are full of noble people and deserve this amount of respect before you pull the rug out from under them. If the agency is smart, they will hear you out, respect your wishes, and then give it everything they have.

Agencies sometimes need an excuse to change things up.

When a creative director, say, has been "the guy" on the account for 3-5 years, it can be tough for senior management to make a change. It's easier to just leave it alone, particularly if senior management doesn't know how you, the client, truly feel about the agency (see above). But if you challenge the agency to re-pitch the business, and are supremely clear about the issues you've had and your expectations going forward, that will provide agency leadership exactly what they need to make sweeping changes to the account.

Baby and bathwater, intact.

The agency leadership will rip out and replace most, if not all, of the current team. These moves will dramatically empower and liberate the new team. It will also force the new team to think about the whole business again without falling into any deeply carved "thought traps," in which the old team may have been stuck. But it gets better. Whereas competing agencies are programmed to hate every idea "not invented here," your new team from the current agency is far more likely to embrace the good while they throw out the bad. Not to mention the fact your new team has the old team still in the building to ask questions about process, the category, etc., which means a shorter learning curve all around.

My point is this: if things go south with your agency, don't just jump to a competitive pitch as if there's no other way. There is another way. A re-pitch might be just the thing to jump start your relationship. But you may want to make the "Re-pitch Process" tight and tidy from a timing standpoint.